


De joyaux et d'émeraude

by SweetVanila



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Characters will be Tags as the story progress, Fantasy AU, Knight Iwaizumi, M/M, Magic-Users, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-05-03 15:04:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5295935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetVanila/pseuds/SweetVanila
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every story begin with an Once upon a time and a prince. Well, this story begins with a declaration of war and the brutal sound of bells resonating through the city. Welcome to the Emerald Kingdom and tonight, chaos is reigning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually my first fanfiction ever, so be kind please. Also if you find some mistake, feel free to inform me since english isn't my first language.  
> Well, enjoy your reading now !

The night was calm. The sky was clear, stars bright and the wind was welcome to break the heavy summer’s temperatures. The city was silent and the only hearable sounds was the constant clatter from the castle’s guards armor. It was another of those nights where Iwaizumi could feel himself gradually falling asleep while staying up because of the lack of sound to entertain him.

Iwaizumi Hajime was an Emerald knight, the highest rank within the kingdom’s knighthood. Emerald knights were the strongest, smartest and simply put the best knight from the Kingdom. Each knights from this squadron was assigned the protection of a member from the royal court, depending on his rank within the Emerald Knights. The stronger you were, the most important the person you were assigned was. Full time protection was the highest mission for a knight. And it implied staying up all night in front of a bedroom door when there was literally nothing to do. Iwaizumi sighed loudly.

At least, he thought, he was not alone in this damn corridor, glancing at the two soldiers patrolling on this floor. He could recognize Kyotani at his left easily. He was, once again, not wearing the soldier uniform (or rather, he was only wearing the tunic with the kingdom’s color and had probably ditched the rest somewhere, since they were expect to wear the full equipment at the beginning of each shift). As for who was on his right, well… He had no idea.

Rolling his shoulders, Iwaizumi moved from the wall he had been stuck from the past hour and went to the small window in front of him. He could see the patrol of soldiers on the exterior wall, and the stale below him. But something caught his eyes and he had to squint to distinguish what seemed to be a light. A fire maybe.

“Kyoutani”, he called. At the sound of his name, Kyoutani came, trotting to halt beside Iwaizumi, who was still focused on this light.

“Guard the door for a minute, I’m going to check something.” Kyoutani made a disgusted expression while eyeing the door and grunted but positioned himself next to the door nonetheless.

Iwaizumi then traversed the corridor and he could heard while going downstairs the second soldier saying something along the lines of “The Great Councelor is under your protection, Iwaizumi, wait…” Still, he rapidly find himself out and went straight to the exterior wall. He meet a few soldiers who bowed when recognizing who he was, but he was still focused on this light. He climbed to the highest point and watched. He could now clearly estimate the light’s localisation. Beyond the city and if he remembered correctly, it was around the windmills’ hill.

“It makes no sense…”

At some point, the soldiers on patrol came to him and (not) surprisingly, none of them had spotted the light before Iwaizumi arrival. After a stern glare, he sent some men to check it up, and decided to come back to his post.

He was still outside when the bell went off. The sound came from afar, the alarm bell outside the city probably. He rushed inside, climbing the stairs and run straight to his previous place. By now, every bell in the city was chiming and the castle one (the louder) was conveying the message, waking up the whole building too.

Kyoutani and the (still unknown) second soldier were on guard, sword out, back to the doors. Iwaizumi ran straight through them, slam the door open and made a beeline to the bed, where Oikawa Tooru, the Great Magic Counselor was sitting up, confusion and sleep all over his face, brown hair sticking up at odd angles.

“Oikawa, up ! Get dressed, we’re moving.”

Between the chorus of bell and Iwaizumi tone, Oikawa jumped straight to his clothes. (The famous emergency set of clothes neatly folded next his bed he had laughed of during so many years.) “What happened ?” Oikawa asked, suppressing a yawn as he was putting on his boot.

“No idea, the alarm bell went off from the outskirt of the city. It’s safe to assume we are under atta-” He was cut off by Oikawa, who rolled his eyes at him, “No kidding, Iwa !”

Iwaizumi glared at him, before throwing Oikawa’s face a cloak from his dresser. Had the situation been different, he would have made a comment on Oikawa’s stupid habit to shorten names.  Instead he took his sword out and motion to Oikawa to follow him. Just as he was going through the door, Oikawa stopped, looking  down at the floor on his right, frowning. Iwaizumi knew that motion, he always wore that face whenever someone used telepathy on him.

“Makki says we have to go to East exterior court”, Oikawa transmitted, still frowning. Iwaizumi just grunted and grab Oikawa’s arm, keeping him on his left while they went downstairs, Kyoutani and his pairs on theirs heels.

\--------------------------------------------------------

Iwaizumi was on edge. This was not how they were supposed to proceed. Under attack, the procedure was to bring Oikawa to the throne room, where they would keep them until the situation was settled. And if things went wrong, they were to escape through the secret road, since they all connect in the throne room.

And Hanamaki was supposed to follow the same procedure, even more since he was the actual Regent. Why would he go out of the way (that he instaured !) this early if things weren’t already bad.

After flying down a couple of stairs, passing across an empty hallway, turning some left and a couple of right, they finally arrived to the East exterior court. Soldiers and knight were running across the court, hastily handing out weapon, climbing the exterior wall, shouting to get in position. Kyoutani and others soldiers they had came across in their path went their own way, probably rejoining their faction.

Iwaizumi spotted the Regent, standing still near the stable, eyes to the sky and made his way to him, Oikawa still in his grasp. (He would have loved to complain about Iwa’s grip, and how his brute strength was going to make him bruise, but his focus frown dissuaded him. That and the whole atmosphere on the castle. Everyone was on edge and it was starting to get on his own nerve.)

“Hey, Hanamaki, what’s the meaning of this ?! That’s not the -” Iwaizumi was cut off by a tug on his arms from Oikawa who was carefully studying the Regent face. Hanamaki was stiffed, looking up, eye glued to the sky. Wait ! Were his eyes glowing ?

“He’s using a vision spell, powerful from the look of it. He’s probably surveying the kingdom”, he said in a hushed voice. When Hanamaki finally moved out of his trance and slowly look at them, he quickly add while getting out of Iwaizumi’s grasp.

“Makki ! Why didn’t you tell me to do the spell ? I can hold it longer and that’s essentially my job, you know !”

As the Great Magic Counselor, Oikawa was in charge of everything related to magic : magic user’s counting, marketing authorization, control over the magic export market, spell creation and regulation… The Great Magic Counselors were always the best mage of the Kingdom and Oikawa was no exception. Thus, he usually was the one performing spell (particularly the most powerful and draining one) within the Regent Council so seeing the Hanamaki performing such a spell himself was quite unsettling.

Hanamaki suddenly seemed to process their presence and in a quick stride, catched Oikawa’s arms (why were they all trying to rip his arms off, seriously) and lead him inside the stable, Iwaizumi following closely. He lead them to two horses, a brown and a black one, both fully saddled. Matsukawa, Hanamaki assigned Emerald knight rejoined them, holding two imposing bag in his hands.

“There you are”, he said calmly, tossing a bag to Iwaizumi whose eyes widened as realisation dawned on him.

“Wait a minute,” he exclaimed, glancing back and forth between the bag in his hands, Matsukawa who had start hanging the bag on the darker horse, “What the fuck is happening ?!”

“Makki, what did you see, why did we come here ?” added Oikawa, whose voice had slightly tighten upon their serious and closed faces.

“I don’t have much time for explanation,” Hanamaki finally said, ignoring Oikawa and  Iwaizumi as they both started to retort something, rummaging in his pocket before taking out a golden bracelet. As soon as Oikawa catched sight of the bracelet, he started backing off, eyeing it suspiciously.

“Wait a minute, Makki ! What are you going to do with THAT ?”

Iwaizumi had half a second to wonder why Oikawa had suddenly entered his panicked mode before Matsukawa grab his left arm and hand it up to Hanamaki who swiftly put the bracelet around his wrist. Then, as quick as ever, Matsukawa grabbed Oikawa, still eyeing the bracelet mouth agape as he was settled on the brown horse. He then looked at the Regent, eyes wide open and whispered a small “seriously ?”

Hanamaki looked at him, hunched over his horse, confusion all over his face, and sighed. His clammy hands patted the front of his pants, before he finally took a deep breath and calmly expressed.

 

“The Quartz have launched an attack. Since they don’t use magic, we didn’t locate them until they hit the city. From what I saw, they have surround all the west part of the city and then launched their attack. We are clearly outnumbered and since we don’t have the resource to sustain a warfare, we can only oppose for a short time. And they know it.”

As he was talking, Iwaizumi had saddled up, Matsukawa hanging up a bow, some arrow and a few other things at his saddle. He was one of the highest knights, he knew their army could not hold on an army like the Quartz one. There was something bothering him though but the Regent was still talking.

“They are going to surround the castle in less than two hours, and only if they don’t send more troop than those who are already here. And to make the situation worse”, the Regent said through gritted teeth, “The Quartz prince is leading the attack.” Oikawa visibly stiffened at that, hands tightly gripping his reins.

“Wait a minute Hanamaki !” Iwaizumi spoke in, drawing three pairs of eyes to him. “Why are you not getting ready ?” He looked over Oikawa’s surprised expression to Matsukawa composed one to finally settled over Hanamaki, voice growing suspicious. “If the situation is so critical, why are we the one escaping, Regent ?”

The three of them stiffened at his declaration, and suddenly, they were avoiding his gaze. Oikawa went back to glaring at his golden bracelet like it had personally offended him while Hanamaki and Matsukawa glanced at each other, knowing look and raised eyebrows.

Iwaizumi was about to snap at their silent conversation when the sound of an explosion reverberate through the castle. Iwaizumi gripped his reins tightly, forcing his horse to hold still while Matsukawa caught Oikawa’s, allowing him to regain control. Hanamaki was looking in the West gate direction, face contorted in anger and worry.

“Okay, time’s up. Iwaizumi”, he said, voice serious, “Oikawa is the future king, so you are both escaping because the last thing we need now is Quartz getting his hand on him.”

“What ?”

Oikawa, the future king ?! Oikawa Tooru, the boy he had grown with was the actual king ? The crybaby who got nosebleed out of nowhere and proceed to freak out every fucking time was the King ? No way ! No fucking way… Well, it actually explained a few things like his monstrous magic ability (Iwaizumi was not a mage but even he could tell that) since it was one of the Emerald’s king characteristics. That and the fact he was chosen and do not inherit the title. Oh, that explained why a farmer’s child had been brought to the castle and raised among the royal court. It wasn’t because he was quite a strong mage but because he was the fucking King ! Damn.

Iwaizumi instantly had a million of question but Matsukawa was already leading Oikawa’s horse out of the stable, and he follow behind, the Regent by his side, giving him some last minute instruction.

“Avoid the forest of Dreams. I know it’s a great place to hide but without Oikawa’s magic, it would be suicide.” Voices were rising from the west side of the castle, and they were hurrying to the East gate now. “Again, Iwaizumi, they must not get Oikawa. The kingdom’s safe as long as they don’t have him.”

Before he got a chance to say anything another explosion resounded through the castle and this was their clue to leave. The East door was opened just enough to let them pass and they could not hear the crashing sound of its closing over the sound of a third explosion.


	2. Escaping

Leaving the city hadn’t been tricky. Though habitants had been woken up, no fools had made the mistake of leaving their house. Streets were empty, giving them plenty of space to trot. Iwaizumi was in front, leading them through small and dark roads, leaving behind the easiest but more opened avenue. They could barely hear the clatter of hoofs against the pavement with the bells’ cacophony.  
They navigated through the capital and in a dozen of minutes, they were out the labyrinth of luxurious house, general store and magic shop. Iwaizumi immediately started to gallop, glancing back to verify Oikawa was still behind him and as soon as the road became large enough for the both of them, he placed himself at Oikawa’s left. Holding his reins with his left hand, he reached for Oikawa’s hood and forcefully put it on.

“Straight on ‘till the water mill. Then we’re going north.” Iwaizumi said, in a hushed voice, eyes glancing everywhere around them.

Oikawa nodded and tried to survey their environment too. They had left the city and entered the countryside. There was nothing more than field and farm and magic factory. There were no lights except for the moon and he couldn’t distinguish anything else. There was no sound either. He let out a shaky breath and tried to reassess the situation.

The Quartz kingdom had launched an attack straight on the Emerald kingdom capital. Hanamaki was right, they were coming for the King. But the fact they had choose to surround the castle and hold the warfare was strange. Why surround the whole castle and make such a visible attack when your target was a single person ? Oikawa sighed in realisation. They ignored who the King was. Just like the whole kingdom. This made things even stranger. Officially, the Emerald King had not been chosen yet. They just had started spreading rumors about how the King would soon be chosen. Why attacked now ? It didn’t make sense.  
What made sense however was the reason Quartz had attack. Oikawa frowned just thinking about it. There was only one thing the Quartz kingdom didn’t have : magic. And the Emerald kingdom was the most magical kingdom out of the Five. Its economy mostly lied in magic exportation for their natural resource only cover the kingdom consummation. And the fact they were the best at spells and artefacts creation. People from Emerald were naturally born with magic sense and power. They could all feel its energy, use it, and transform it. And the King, chosen by magic and not blood, was the most powerful mage of Emerald.  
No wonder that Ushi-bastard want the King, Oikawa thought, disgusted by the mere idea of the Quartz Prince near the Emerald Throne and himself.

Oikawa was ejected out of his thoughts by his Knight’s voice. Theirs horses almost collided as Iwaizumi sharply changed his directions, forcing Oikawa’s horse in another path. He heard more than he saw the arrows falling in Iwaizumi previous place. Craning his neck, he spotted two men, bows in hand, and horses at full gallop toward them. Despite the distance, Oikawa could not recognise any symbols from Quartz on them. They were not wearing armour and the lack of weight allowed them more speed ; they were getting closer. Arrows were continuously shot and some fell too close to Oikawa's comfort.  
Iwaizumi was still at his side, glancing back and forth between their assailants and the road. The soldiers had come from their left, probably hiding behind a potion factory. Their constant brewing created a permanent cloud of smoke, perfect to hide. Iwaizumi had always claimed this smoke would create trouble one day and Oikawa bitterly wondered why no one had listened (himself included). The knight glanced back again, so did he. They were closer, probably less than a kilometre but he couldn’t really tell. They were fast.

“Oikawa”, Iwaizumi shouted, “get in front !”

So he did, using his legs accelerate and lead the way, following the river’s path, Iwaizumi hounding behind, slightly on his left. They kept the full speed and when finally the mill came into view, Oikawa dared to glance back at Iwaizumi. He couldn’t decide what was the more worrying : the soldiers getting so close he could clearly distinguish theirs clothes or Iwaizumi’s expression.  
He must have made a face and soon Iwaizumi was at his level, shouting a “Get to the bridge”. Oikawa wanted to point out that the bridge led to the east not north but he swallow back his protest when Iwaizumi took out his bow. Understanding, he barely nodded and rushed toward it.  
The bridge was old, in plain wood, only used to access the water mill on the river other side. Behind, there was nothing but a prairie, stretching on kilometres, leading straight to the forest of Dreams. This river was the kingdom’s East border.

Crossing the bridge only took a second but Oikawa still felt it in his gut. The crushing weight in his abdomen and the clench of his heart were not new, as he had been feeling it every time he crossed a border since he was twelve, but tonight he couldn’t spare a second thought about it. At his side, Iwaizumi had turned around in his saddle, drawing the string of his bow to his face, eyes focused on the bridge. Two second later, he released his grip and the arrow flew over the bridge. As soon as the arrow made contact with the ground, a thick cloud of smoke had appeared, surprising the soldiers enough to force them to a full stop. Iwaizumi immediately regained his position, hold of his reins and launched his horse at full speed again.  
‘ _Smoked arrow. Matsukawa had given Iwaizumi a quiver, he probably put them inside_ ’, Oikawa thought, surprised by the fact Iwaizumi had actually use them. If he did not mind magic arrow, smoked arrow weren’t particularly useful. ‘ _He could have burnt the bridge; there was probably a fire arrow in it._ ’

Oikawa was watching him, uneasy, waiting for his instructions. Iwaizumi was thoughtful. He might have changed the plan but he knew him enough to know he had another one. He had to have another strategy because they were racing straight to the forest of Dreams and Oikawa could not figure out how they were going to escape the soldiers now. The smoke had been a great diversion and giving them a full minute ahead but it had not stopped them. His mind was racing, trying to figure what to do. The smoke had not completely dissipated but he heard the soldiers shouting, forcing theirs horses to traverse. He could feel himself breath faster with every step. They have left the kingdom, the forest was there, just a few meters in front of them. They had to change directions ! North ? South ? They were only two, should they fight them ?  
“Iwa ! What do we do ?”

“Don’t stop ! To the forest !”  
The knight voice had resonated distinctly both in the night and Oikawa’s racing mind. The forest… The forest ?! Oikawa turned his head to see Iwaizumi smirking. SMIRKING !“Have you gone mad,” Oikawa shouted, voice rising in anger and panic. He raised his left arm, showing the golden bracelet Hanamaki had (without his consent) put on his wrist. “It’s a magic canceller Iwa !” His voice broke at the thought. Being without magic was an unthinkable concept. “I can’t use magic, we CAN’T go through the forest !”  
Iwaizumi did not detach his eyes from the forest, even when Oikawa started to gesticulate beside him, trying to shove that damn bracelet on his face. “Are you even listening, we can’t go through !”

“Who said we are going through” was all the answer Oikawa got.

\--------------------------------------------------

  
The forest of dreams was an old and impressive forest. It counted numerous of centennial trees and hold species of plants unique to the forest. However, it wasn’t renowned for its flora. No, what the world knew about the forest of Dreams was its curse. They said its trees could talk and move, its flowers fed from humans’ hearts, its water lured the weakling mind to death. The forest was alive and conscious.  
Emerald people had always called it a blessing though. Magic had given this forest a consciousness and a way to defend itself from humans through hallucinogenic odours, carnivore flowers and moving roots. Travellers were not welcome but going through was possible with a purifying spell and as long as no one harmed the forest.

Iwaizumi was leading the way now. Oikawa follow behind, still reticent about going without magic. Sure, they knew the forest, had traversed it countless of time and they could probably avoid the forest trap from memory but still, going without magic was reckless. Hanamaki had even said it was suicide. What was Iwaizumi thinking ?  
Oikawa had thought about turning back, making a detour and following the forest border instead. However, Iwaizumi had entered it and the soldiers had resumed their race. He was left with no choice but to trust his Knight.  
Inside the forest, the air suddenly became chilly and humid, abrupt change to the summer temperature they had supported until now. The moonlight had not been of great help along the run and was now useless as it was divided in small rays of weak light through the forest foliage. The plain expanse of grass had turned into moss, covered here and there of bush and potential deadly flower.

After a minute, Iwaizumi slowed down, coming to trot and examined attentively his surroundings. He seemed to find what he was searching for he silently indicated Oikawa to follow him. Oikawa advanced, wary of those bush Iwaizumi was getting close to. Well, it was better than the huge ravine on his right, hidden behind a line of tree. Iwaizumi seemed fine, perfectly at ease even, which did not help Oikawa’s nerve.  
‘ _We’re going to die._ ’ Oikawa though, fidgeting on his saddle while glaring at his Knight’s back. ‘ _A stupid, very stupid death. I will finish in a flower’s stomach because of his - Wait, what is he doing ? Why does he get down ?!_ ’

In front of him, Iwaizumi had dismounted in silence, holding his horse’s reins in his hand. He was watching Oikawa now, expectant. A moment passed. Oikawa had stayed still. When Iwaizumi took a step toward him, he started shaking his head, eyes still locked with Iwaizumi’s own. ‘ _No way_ ’, he thought, ‘ _no way I’m getting down_ ’. His silenced message visibly flew right over Iwaizumi’s head because as soon as he was close to Oikawa’s horse, he took the reins in his left hand, grabbed Oikawa’s hip with his right and threw him on the floor.  
Oikawa fell with an undignified squeak, on his hands and knees. He turned to glare and yell at his knight and stopped himself midway to the sight of Iwaizumi, index on his mouth, indicating silence, promise of murder in his eyes shall he disobey. He then motioned him to stay where he was. Oikawa gulped and dutifully nodded, sitting back on his knees, nervous smile on his face. Staying in the forest was a bad idea but disobeying his knight’s instructions was a very, very bad idea. Way much worse…  


So he stayed still, watching curiously, as Iwaizumi headed to a tree, a little further back in the forest and started tying the horses’ reins around. From here, the forest did not look particularly different from another one (as far as he could see in the middle of the night). Leaves and branches scattered all around, crackling under their feet’s; bushes growing freely around young trees. But what Oikawa found the most unsettling was the silence. The wind was whispering through every branch but there was nothing else. Even the strangest nocturnes birds from the forest were silent.  
Iwaizumi was still with the horses (making sure the reins were correctly tied) when Oikawa started to distinguish a faint sound from afar. He first thought it was from an animal but the more the sound came closer, the more he could recognize the rhythmical pattern. It was the rustling of hoofs. The soldiers were approaching.

Oikawa turned around, facing the forest border and was about to get up when their assailants suddenly appeared. Sucking on an inhale, he threw himself to the ground, disappearing from the soldiers’ sight. He tried to calm his breath and the trembling in his arms but did not succeed. He could feel his heart accelerating and his mind racing.

Iwaizumi was still a few meters behind him. With the horses. Going back to him without being noticed would be complicated and he would have to crawl back while keeping the soldiers in sight. He had no weapon unlike him and no magic thanks to Makki’s great idea. Oikawa could feel the bracelet’s weight on his wrist and on his magic, its presence only increasing the panic spreading through his veins, through his every muscle. On top of that, Iwaizumi could very well already be lost, caught in the forest trap.

‘ _Don’t panic, don’t panic. Now is not the time, try to think, come on !_ ’

Oikawa took a deep breath, closing his eyes to calm himself and try to evaluate the situation. The soldiers had stopped and were watching the forest from its border. They were approximatively five meters away from Oikawa, who was only hidden by some thick bushes. And while they could not saw him from this distance, he would easily get caught if they entered the forest. But they did not approached and Oikawa realised something. They were not getting closer. If anything, they were getting away from the forest. From the distance and his position, he could not see them clearly but they were surveying the forest, searching for them and seemed tense and wary. So he did not move, staying as still and silent as possible, hoping he could stay hidden until Iwaizumi came back and decided how to deal with them (if he was still behind and not rooting under a tree).

  
**“THUD”**

  
Oikawa stopped breathing, head spinning to the right. He couldn’t see what had caused the sudden sound and honestly hoped it was just an animal. It had captivated the soldiers’ attention too as they headed to where the sound seemed to come. Oikawa watched them carefully as they went away and decided this might be the best moment to find a better place to hide. As he started to crawl backward, eyes fixated in front, he suddenly felt a hand grabbed his back while another clamped itself on his mouth and before he could even try to resist, he was forcefully dragged sideway and slammed on the ground, behind a tree. He tried to resist, pushing on his arms, trying to wriggle out but to no avail. He felt a shift of movement and a knee on the back of his leg while the hand on his back just pushed him down. The grip on his mouth got stronger; Oikawa felt a breath on his neck and could barely register the world whispered between gritted teeth.

  
“Just keep quiet”

  
Iwaizumi.  
Oikawa exhaled a breath of relief behind the knight’s glove while his whole body went lax. Iwaizumi removed his hand then and moved over Oikawa to crouch next to him, right hand over his sword while he leaned on the tree with the other one. He kept his gaze to the soldiers’ direction but did not seem particularly on edge, Oikawa remarked as he finally moved to sit, back against the tree. He closed his eyes, took a few breaths to calm his racing heart and then proceeded to look at his knight. Upon further observation, Iwaizumi did not seem on edge at all. His shoulders were relaxed, hand hovering over his sword without actually gripping it, face stoic (and not frowning like Oikawa had except).

Then, careful not to make any sound, Oikawa turned around slightly to watch the Quartz’s soldiers. From this new hiding place, he could only catch a glimpse of them but it was enough. They were still acting the same, watching the forest from afar, turning around but never getting close. Oikawa flopped back against the trunk, scowling. The situation was still dire. They were stuck in the Forest of dreams, hidden behind a tree and it was only a matter of minutes before the soldiers found them. ‘And then what’, he thought, ‘ _Do we run ? Can Iwa take them down both ? What if they have reinforcement ?_ ’ Chewing his lips, Oikawa made a move towards Iwaizumi, trying to catch his attention to simply ask : What do we do now ?  
Instead, he found himself dumbstruck again by Iwaizumi. He was smirking. AGAIN ! His blood turned cold, eyes growing wide as he grasped his knight’s arm, forcing him to turn around, to explain his stupid plan, because, the last time he had smirk this night, he had thought entering the forest was a good idea. When they finally made eye contact, Iwaizumi just grinned and nodded towards the soldiers, to Oikawa greatest irritation. So he just gripped the knight’s arm harder.

“Did the forest just eat your brain ?! They’re going to find us, why are you standing and smirking like that ?” Oikawa managed to control the volume of his voice but he did not even try to hide his anger. “What are you thinking !”

“They are from Quartz. They are afraid. What do we know they don’t ?” Iwaizumi’s voice was deep, each word calmly spoke, and expression neutral but his eyes were probably what calmed Oikawa so quickly. He couldn’t distinguish their hazel colour nor the greenish spots only visible under cloudy sky but at the very moment, Oikawa could see them only focused on him, usual irritation or detachment gone. There was just pure confidence. Confidence in himself, in his capacity to protect as a Knight and in them, in their trust and the understanding they had of each other. He was not asking Oikawa to trust him. He was saying : I know what I am doing and I know you can understand it.

“Magic” was all Oikawa could murmur as understanding soaked his mind. Iwaizumi smiled a little before turning back to watch the Quartz’s soldiers but Oikawa missed it, too lost in thought. How could he forget ? Magic was what Quartz missed but magic was also what the Forest of Dreams was made of. It was the reason only the Emerald kingdom dared to pass through the forest while the other kingdoms avoid and feared it. They were afraid to approach it and thus had never learned about its power. Oikawa let a breathy laugh escape his throat, mortified by his own foolishness. He should have understood the moment Iwaizumi said they were not going through the forest. He was supposed to know how the forest worked, how it only used its magic once you cross the ten-meter border and how it was safe to traverse without purification spell as long as you stay close to the exterior border.

Oikawa gritted his teeth, embarrassed by his reactions and actual lack of reflexion. Their escape might have been unexpected and in the middle of the night but still, he believed he had more clairvoyance than this. Entering the forest was not Iwaizumi first plan but he clearly had this escape route prepared. Oikawa wondered if this tactic route was actually taught to every Emerald knight or if using the forest was Iwa's own strategy. ' _It's probably easier to remember if you can't cast spell on your own_ ', he thought.

For its part, Iwaizumi was still checking on the soldiers. They were slowly getting further apart from their hiding, still wary, constantly checking their surrounding and keeping theirs horses off the border. They stayed like this a moment, minutes that seemed like an eternity, silent and still and when finally the soldiers started to seem more at ease, Iwaizumi caught a rock from the ground and threw it. He aimed for an imposing tree, inside the interior border and the rock crashed in it with a hollow clang. Suddenly, the wind picked up and a horrible and disturbing scream resonated from the forest. There was sounds of roots moving and branches cracking, followed by a loud thud. Then as fast as they appeared, the sounds stopped and silence reclaimed its rights.

' _Geniously simple_ ', Oikawa thought before turning around to check the soldiers’ reactions. As excepted, they looked terrified and after a few seconds of silence, they glanced at each other, nodded and moved horses at full speed. They passed before them, didn't even glance toward their hiding and left the forest from where they entered. Oikawa leaned back against the tree and sighed a final breath of relief. Iwaizumi was also moving, adjusting his sword before sitting down. He looked at Oikawa, eyebrows furrowed, mouth twitching in irritation.

“So, care to enlighten me on this fucking mess ?”


	3. Answers

“So ?”

Iwaizumi was the first to break the silence, looking expectantly at Oikawa, who kept avoiding his gaze quite obviously. After a full minute of complete stillness from both men, Oikawa started to fidget, growing uncomfortable under Iwaizumi’s observation. Finally, he sighed loudly, straightened up from his slouched position against the tree and without further explanation lifted his shirt.

Surprised, Iwaizumi barely managed to keep a straight face at the sight. Dark lines covered the left side of Oikawa’s abdomen. They concentrated around his heart before separating in smaller and numerous segments, going in different directions, crossing each other in what seemed a random pattern. From his position and the weak light, Iwaizumi could not see them in details but something was strange.  


“Are those tattoos ?” Iwaizumi found himself looking up to Oikawa from where he had leaned over to get a better view. Oikawa just shook his head and took one of his hands, letting Iwaizumi’s fingers slightly brushed over a mark. Where he had expected to feel smooth and warm skin, Iwaizumi felt the cold and harsh sensation of stone. Those weren’t tattoos or drawing, it was-  


“Emerald, yes Iwa.” Oikawa let a small sighed escaped from his smiling lips and while Iwaizumi reinstalled himself at his side, he put his shirt back and readjusted his cloak around himself. They both let their head fall against the tree, letting their gaze and mind wander freely.  
In the calm of the forest and the certitude they were safe, Iwaizumi allowed himself to process those news. Oikawa was the (future) King of Emerald. Hanamaki had told him so before their departure but seeing the royal mark on Oikawa left no place to doubt. The questions that had assaulted his mind at the castle came back with full force and now, he might have some answers.  


“Since when do you know ?” He asked first, trying to hide his curiosity.  


“Well”, Oikawa answered, somehow amused by the situation now,“ It was confirmed with the mark apparition, so when I was fourteen. But there had always been suspicions. Do you remember what Makki’s father said at my introduction ?”  


Iwaizumi just nodded, eyes riveted on Oikawa. He remembered clearly this day.

\-------------------------------------------------------

He was eight, just like Matsukawa. Autumn had barely taken its right, allowing both boys to play outside simply dressed in their shirt. Outsiders would say they were playing, but the boys would argue, with all the ferocity eight years old boys could have, that they were training. Armed with wood sword, they practiced by turns their guard and basic attack under their father’s gaze. Officially, they could only integrate the knight formation at ten years old but their training had already started. As sons of Emerald Knights, they were expected to join knighthood and their father’s pride would only allow them to be the best.  


Matsukawa and himself had been particularly inattentive that day, waiting for the Regent’s carriage to come back after two months of travel around the kingdom to present the Regent’s son : Hanamaki Takahiro. Who had promised them presents during his departure and both boys had spent the day in the main court for him.  


So when the carriage finally entered, they ran straight to it with delight, to their fathers’ amusement. They stayed at a reasonable distance, patiently waiting for the adults to take care of the horses, the luggage and all the things adults had to do. After what they believed was an eternity, the Regent got out, greeting the castle’s habitants and exclaiming his joy to be back. Hanamaki quickly followed him and when they started to advance toward their friend, another young boy got out the carriage.  


He was smaller and seemed younger. But what had struck Iwaizumi was his face. He was pale, but his skin was not the same kind of pale as Hanamaki. He was morbidly pale, allowing his chocolate eyes to stand out even more. His brown hair were sticking out in so many directions he almost believed the boy never took a bath. His clothes were big, too big on him, the sleeves of his shirt folded up around his wrist. So were the hems of his pant. He was holding Hanamaki’s sleeve, following him around, half scared, half-impressed.  


However, before they could reunite, Hanamaki and the newcomer were hustled inside the castle, leaving Iwaizumi and Matsukawa dumbfounded and curious. They had tried to learn more about the curious boy but to no avail. They saw him again the next day when he was officially present to the Court.  


“My friends,” the Regent had said, voice deep and loud, allowing even those at the far end of the throne room to hear, “It’s such a joy to be back home after such a travel through our kingdom. However, I asked for your presence here today in order to present you the new castle’s pupil : Oikawa Tooru.” There was a pause and some polite clapping as the boy walked shyly towards the Regent. His wild hair had been vaguely brushed and he was wearing a new set of clothes, at this size now, pale skin clashing with the dark green vest. “During our stay in the West, this boy had displayed some impressive magical abilities for his young age. I believed he will grow to be one of our best mage, which is why, he will now join the Court to be taught and train in order to serve his kingdom in the future.”  


\-----------------------------------------------------

“The previous Regent had always believed I could be the King.” Oikawa added, his voice drawing Iwaizumi away from his memories. “From the moment he first saw me.” He was smiling, a shy little smile, full of gratitude toward the men who literally transform his life into a fairytale. But Iwaizumi didn’t take a moment to appreciate his expression, brain working over the information and its implication. After another minute of silent reflexions and fidgeting from Oikawa, Iwaizumi gave in and simply voiced out his confusion. 

“You came to the castle when you were seven. I will ignore those seven years of ignorance because it was just suspicions. But you had been chosen when you were fourteen. Why weren’t you crowned back then ? Did you keep it secret ? Or was the Regent aware ?” He paused. “Damn, was Hanamaki aware back then or it was when he got the Regent title ?”  


He was ranting. He knew he was but really, now that he’d started, he could not stopped. Not that he wanted. His questions need answers and from the way Oikawa’s smile froze, he knew he had hit on something.  


“Who know exactly ? And most importantly, Oikawa, how come Matsukawa knew but I did not ? Hanamaki told him, it has to be. So that means he knew ! Why did you get the Great Counselor title then ? You were fifteen when you got that place. You’d known for a year, what was the purpose ? And don’t try to dodge the conversation, I want answers. Now.”  


Somehow, during his ranting, his voice had managed to revert to an intimidating tone, full of authority that had granted him a fast “Yes Iwa” from Oikawa.  
Oikawa, on the other hand, just sighed in defeat. If he was willing to explain the whole situation, there were a few details he knew Iwa would not appreciate. ‘ _Especially the fact you were kept in ignorance for so long_ ’ he though. He finally cleared his throat, readying himself for a quite long explanation.  


“Hum, to start, yes, the Regent was aware of my mark back then. So was Makki. But I had barely turn fourteen so we decided to keep it secret until I could be crowned, at my twenty-first birthday. The Regent thought I could use those years to learn about ruling the kingdom and such.”  


“Seems logical, but what about the Counselor title ? And Matsukawa ?” Iwa cut, impatience and irritation painted on his face. “Yes, yes, I’m coming to that Iwa ! Learn some patience would you ?” Oikawa retorted smirking. Iwaizumi promptly hit the back of his head, unamused.  


“It was Makki’s idea actually. As the future Regent, he was allowed in the Council reunion but I was not. And, at the time my magic was growing at an alarming rate so he thought giving me the Magic Great Counselor title was the best cover. This way, I could stay at the castle, get a protection, participate at the Council and learn from it, and it would explained my magic ! And my secret identity was safe !” Oikawa concluded with a wink. He expected some kind of glare or another slap but Iwa just ignored him in favour of his reflexion.  


“Okay”, he said, eyebrows still furrowed, “I got that but why did you keep it secret for so long ? You could have revealed it when you were sixteen or seventeen and rule with the Council and Hanamaki until your coronation.”  


“I have thought of doing that,” he answers, burying his face in his hand. He remained so before taking off his hood, letting his hand wander through the mess that were his hair. “But Makki’s dad made us promise to wait. He said our army wasn’t strong enough to protect the kingdom. That before announcing the arrival of a King, we should make some alliances; for the arrival of the King would be a signal for our enemy to attack us.” Both men could just agree with the previous Regent’s statement. Their army was not the strongest but it had always ensured the kingdom’s safety. They however never had to deal with an invasion and rumours had been all it took for Quartz to attack.  


They shared a contemplative silence for a few minutes before Iwaizumi broke it again, to Oikawa’s great despair. “Speaking of protections, wasn’t the King supposed to have two Emerald Knights ?”  


“Technically yes,” Oikawa answered with precautious, “but that would have been an indication of my status. Which was secret. Except for Makki and Mattsun. Makki told him when he became his Emerald Knight.” And before Iwa had the time to retort, Oikawa pursued, hands moving around excitingly : “but, you didn’t know because, well, you had to believe I was just a Great Counselor. You know, in case someone used a truth spell on you. But I had and still have a total confidence in my loyal Emerald Knight ! You would not have let anyone attack me and my secret was perfectly safe in your ignorant hands ! And no knight in his right mind would ever hurt his King. So, you’ve always perfectly hidden my secret even when you didn’t know !” Oikawa finished, slightly out of breath. He was wearing his most convincing smile, hoping Iwa would be irritated enough to drop the subject. His plan did not seem to work as Iwa send him his most incredulous look and hummed suspiciously in response.  


“Mastukawa would have been most suited for your protection then. I mean, he is better ranked than me.”  


Oikawa cringed at this. Under other circumstance, he would have not hesitated to hit Iwaizumi to remind him who he was. To remind him of his strength and loyalty. He would have fiercely contradicted him and his doubts. But now… He just feared the wrath Iwa could unleashed on him.  


He let escaped a nervous chuckle thus gaining Iwa’s attention : “About that”, he started, taking a big inspiration to give him some sort of courage, “It was Makki’s idea so don’t hit me, but… We might have changed the ranking’s results a little bit…” Oikawa finished with a small nervous laugh.  


For a second, Iwaizumi’s face stayed impassive but Oikawa could pinpoint the exact moment he processed the new. He frowned and slowly turned towards Oikawa. There was no shocked surprise in his eyes, only exasperation.  


Iwaizumi forces a breath out his clenched jaw, searching worlds to answer another ‘Oikawa’s big declaration’ of the night. Oikawa was covered in emerald and the King ? Surprising but he could deal with that. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were aware of it and left him in ignorance ? Annoying, slightly insulting but he understood the reasoning behind. Hearing that Hanamaki and Oikawa (it might have been Hanamaki’s idea but the whole mess revolved around Oikawa so it was also his fault) had modified the Emerald Knight ranking for a still unknown reason was however not something he could easily override.  


“You better have a good and fast explanation for that, Your Majesty.”  


Oikawa gulped loudly. After Iwaizumi initial calmness about the night events, Oikawa had hoped he would keep his calm no matter what he would tell him. However, this was bad. Iwaizumi was actually angry : he did not scream, try to hit him or even insult him. And he referred to him by his title ! ‘ _And he used sarcasm_ ’, he thought. ‘ _A sarcastic Iwa is always scarier than an angry Iwa. I knew he would be mad._ ’  


“Makki decide to switch your and Mattsun places to make the result fit my situation !” he answered quickly. “You are my Emerald Knight because you were second at the ranking and I am -officially- the second most important person of the Kingdom after the Regent. That’s how it works. But Makki did not want to take any risk with my security and he secretly modifies the result, in order for the actual higher ranked knight to be assigned to my protection.”  


Oikawa waited a few second to gauged Iwa’s expression but his clenched teeth prompted him to continue. “So you were actually the first one Iwa ! That’s great ! But in order to make you, the best Knight, my knight, we had to make you second. Since my title is secret and doing otherwise would have been suspect. I’m sorry we had to resort to that.”  


Eventually, Iwaizumi moved away from Oikawa’s direction, eyes glazing over some bushes. Oikawa genuinely looked sorry. Yet, knowing they had easily modified a ranking that state a Knight value and his affectation bothered him. If he could understand the logic (he would have probably done the same), he had trouble accepting it.  


He let the tension in his body flew away, loosening his shoulders, fingers idly playing with his sword hilt. The ranking test had been years ago and even if he had been upset about his second place back then, he got over it quickly. In terms of offensive power, combat technique, and strategic reasoning, he and Mastukawa were on the same level. Plus, Oikawa and Hanamaki spent most of their days together so there was not an actual difference between them. ‘ _Just my pride_ ’, he thought.  


Iwaizumi then took a big inhale before staying up suddenly, startling Oikawa in the process. He glanced down, amused to see Oikawa on edge, unsure about dropping the subject or not. He silently motioned him to stand up as he started to move. “Does Matsukawa know about the ranking ?”  


“Yes”, Oikawa answered from the tree, waiting for his Knight to return with the horses. “Makki had to tell him when he was informed about me. He had the same reaction as yours, about how in that case, he shouldn’t be my Knight.”  


“He is probably happy about it actually. That way, he doesn’t have to deal with your stupidity”, Iwaizumi answered as he handed Oikawa his horse back. He then turned to his own and he mounted his horse. He could hear Oikawa sputter behind him. “Arg ! Is that a way to talk to your King ?”, he said, getting on his own horse.  


“Sorry Counselor, I don’t know what you are talking about.”  


“How mean, Iwa !”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the updates are absolutely eratic but work doesn't really leave me a lot of time.  
> Thank you so much for reading ! It means a lot !


	4. Retreat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on this fic but work had keep me terribly busy. This chapter had been more complicated for me and I spent a looong time figuring it out. It was also supposed to be longer but I realised it would reveal too much of the plot so I decided to keep the second part for later. Also, on a personal note, I felt the need to write after the attack so if the chapters seemed rushed to you, feel free to tell me.
> 
> And now, we are back at Emerald for chapter 4 !

It took actually less than an hour for Quartz's army to reach the castle. Three explosions had been enough to knock down the imposing West Gate and from then, everything had been a mess of shouted orders, screams and running. 

After the second explosion, Matsukawa had shouted order to the East faction before guiding the Regent through the chaos to the throne room's safety. 

Situated at the center of the castle, it was one of the most impressive rooms of the whole castle (with the library and the sky's tower). Tall windows all along the walls, letting the flickering lights of the night illuminate the imposing columns of marble leading to the throne itself.

Entering the room, the Regent and his Knight were welcomed by the distant humming of a quite heated conversation between Counselors and Knights. The dull sound from the door closing and the echo of their steps broke the chatting and in silence, Counselors and Knights turned to the Regent. 

Hanamaki could recognize in the mass the Counselor Irihata, the oldest Counselor in activity, who had previously served his father as an Emerald Knight, and the only person is the assembly who had lived and fought during the last Kingdom War. Irihata was a short man, largely built with black hair where had started to grow some white stray. He was once again neglecting the complex attire his function allowed him for more casual clothes (a pair of black pants and a dark green vest), arguing to whomever want to hear that he couldn’t accept to wear clothes restricting his range of movements (old Knight’s habit he had once said). As the kingdom archivist, the Counselor Irihata was a voice of advice and wisdom and he was actually still particularly active in every decision Hanamaki could make. 

He was leaning against a column, silently watching the flow of soldiers running at the first level. He made eye contact with Hanamaki and the young Regent could only see patience. There was no expectation in his gaze, he simply stood there with the wisdom of age, waiting. 

Before him a small circile made of Counselors and Knights had formed itself around the Counselor Mizoguchi (a tall blonde man, in his thirties, charged of Education) and Counselor Yuda, the youngest counselor in activity, with messy chestnut hair, in charge of the kingdom’s Agriculture. Visibly, the two of them were the source of the argument that had stopped at the Regent and Knight’s arrival. 

When silence finally reigned, Irihata spoke. “The west Gate had fallen. It’s a matter of minutes before the enemies invest the castle. Regent, what will you do ?” His voice didn’t waver, still full of confidence, testing him even under warfare. 

“We do not have the capacity to fight them for long”, Hanamaki answered, observing the reaction. “We will evacuate every counselor for now and I will meet Prince Ushijima for negotiations.” 

There was a hustle, voice starting to rise but he stop them quickly, hand up asking for silence. “There is no reason for them to attack us officially. They are undoubtedly after the King and there are possibly three objectives for this attack. Regardless, I already sent Oikawa and his Knight to find the King, hoping our Magic Counselor will get a new sign of his presence.” He received some nods of agreement and whispers of debate started again. 

Outside, the battle had got closer and they could now hear the soldiers fighting through the tall windows, cruel reminder of the false security the throne room could offer. 

Suddenly, startling the youngest, the concrete slab of the fireplace moved, revealing two young men, covered in ashes and mud. Under the layer of dirt, a green tree framed by a golden river could be seen on the shoulders of theirs tunics: the kingdom’s symbol. The first one to leave the fireplace was tall with black spiky hair and seemed quite uneasy being the center of every attention until the other boy got out the fireplace with the most apathetic face most of the Counselors had ever seen. 

But before anyone could address the young soldiers’ intentions, Matsukawa placed himself before them. “Welcome”, he exclaimed, “glad to see you make it.” He then turned toward the assembly. “Counselors, Knights, I present you soldiers Kindaichi”- the taller one straighten hearing his name – “and Kunimi” – the other simply nodded –“ They are in charge of the Tree house and will guide you to it safely.” 

The Tree house was the principal place of retreat for the Court. Living as its name, it was an actual fortress built around one of the Forest’s Dream oldest tree, making it the safest shelter of the kingdom against outsider’s attacks. 

Evacuate the Counselors and their respective Emerald knight took some minutes of organization but soon they were all following Kunimi through the fireplace tunnel, Kindaichi behind, closing the passage. When the slab took its place back in the fireplace, silence surround the only two men remaining in this now too big throne room. Regent and Knight exchanged a look and without a world Matsukawa went to the fireplace, took some logs from the basket beside it and started a fire, condemning the way. Sending all the kingdom’s Counselors to the Tree house was a dangerous bet and even if the way was full of trap (the Forest itself being the more dangerous for foreigners like Quartz), they wouldn’t take any risk of Counselors being captured. 

Meanwhile, Hanamaki went to the throne. The Emerald throne was quite a strange object made of wood and emerald. Branches of solid wood tangled together forming an impressive chair where the green gems seemed to grow out of, scattering a soft glow over the throne. 

The Regent kneeled before it, bare hands delicately resting at the connection between wood and the room’s cold tiles. Then, closing his eyes, he slowly recited sentences instilled into him for years, old worlds, full of magic, rolling on his tongue, filling the silent room. As words left his mouth, a soft white glow appeared under his hands, slowly spreading between every tiles, propagating to every wall, through every crack, into every room. During a second, nothing happened. Matsukawa was about to question a still kneeled Hanamaki when suddenly, coming from every directions sounds of locks being closed resonated loudly. 

The knight reflexively drew out his sword, whole body going tense, looking out for the smallest movement. But there was nothing expect for a sigh coming from the room’s other occupant who promptly started to giggle. 

“Relax,” Hanamaki said while getting up, “I just close most of the castle’s rooms and exit. If we can’t stop Ushijima’s army to enter, I won’t let him go as he please through the castle. We can’t let him have access to the library, can we ?” 

Matsukawa just hummed in agreement. “Speaking of Ushijima, what are your theories concerning this impromptu little visit of him ?”, he said with an amused tone in complete opposition with his closed face. 

The regent let a groan escaped when he flopped down on the throne perfectly facing the massive double door. “As I said, three options. Option one, they believe the rumors are false and we already have the King. They want to gain control before his coronation and thus blackmail the King into cooperation.” Hanamaki wiggled in the not so comfortable throne until his back agreed on an actual sitting position. “Option two, they keep us from finding the King, they find him and similar scenario, they force the kingdom into a cooperative form of reign.” 

“As for option three”- he shifted in his seat, right hand rubbing his face as he groaned-“ it’s the less probable but the more dangerous. They’re out to kill the king and from then proceed to take a full control over the kingdom. However, it’s quite hazardous for them. They ignore how the process works.” 

“They will probably resort to option three if we or the King oppose too much resistance”, Matsukawa added. “Negotiate with them will be delicate.” Placing himself next to the throne, slightly on Hanamaki’s left, the knight then glanced to the sky, through the nearest window. “Want to bet how long we’ll have to wait ?” Hanamaki breathed out a laughy exhale, eyes straight on the doors.

“Sure”, he said. 

  


\-------------------------------------------------------

The Emerald castle was a beautiful construction, situated straight at the capital’s center, standing out of the complex and low buildings composing the city. Different style of construction could be seen in the Emerald Capital as the city had built itself, decades after decades around the castle: small old house made of wood and stone similar to construction in the castle interior walls ; tall shops made of smooth green bricks, heritage from the Magic Revolution when enchanted construction literally grew out of earth ; and at the farther part, the newest building had integrated iron and steel, a new kind of construction harshly brought back from the Steel War. 

The quartz army, however, had no interest whatsoever in the city they were currently marching through. Their once silent progression had been stopped when, outside the city a mage had managed to create an enchanted fire the soldiers had not managed to stop. Their presence being signaled, they had changed their strategy to enter the city and ended up blowing up the wall separating the castle from its city. Once the West gate had opened, the soldiers lost no time taking possession of each independent building (starting from the north-west barn and the blacksmith workshop near the south well), progressing to the East exterior court, disarming and capturing every Emerald’s faction before them. None of the Quartz soldiers got near the castle itself. 

After an hour of battle, the Emerald castle was finally besieged. Soldiers were posted all around, waiting silently. Then, troubling the perfect symmetry of their formation, soldiers stepped aside, allowing a few riders to advance toward the castle entry. 

In front was the Prince Ushijima, a tall and well-built man with dark hair. His face was set on a neutral expression, impossible to read. He was wearing an armor with his Kingdom’s colors but it was full of scratches, dents and small cuts, evidence of numerous battle no one expected a Prince to join. 

Behind him, five others riders follow his lead. They were wearing similar armors although theirs seemed way more used and dirty, (probably made in a more common iron unlike the Prince’s one). Those men of different heights and built were all wearing an helmet except for one red hair one who had apparently throw the uncomfortable piece of metal. Indeed, those helmets were unusually cut, covering their owner head and neck at the back yet stopping at the nose on the front, leaving their mouth, jaws and neck bare to any opponents. 

In complete silence, the Prince dismounted, leaving his soldiers dealt with his tall and now rebellious white horse. The others riders, who seemed to be his royal escort, dismounted too. The Prince stood tall and proud and with confident steps entered the Emerald castle, soon followed by his escort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it :D  
> My tumblr : [SweetVanila Fandoms](http://sweetvanila-fandoms.tumblr.com)


	5. Progression

They had been riding in silence for few hours and were slowly progressing inside the safe zone, following the unique path this border could offer. The sun was now rising, illuminating the forest of Dreams, revealing its mysteries to the riders. Around them, trees, bushes and other roots were fairly normal but as soon as their eyes dared to wander towards the inside, a haze seemed to appear far away, enveloping trees in a thick and glowing embrace. Birds could be heard singing, the wind was a soothing tune instead of the anxious whisper of the night and the cracking of wood, which was so unsettling hours ago, became a peaceful sound.

The whole was giving the Forest an hypnotic presence and Iwaizumi had to bring Oikawa back on their path more often than he was comfortable with. He might have underestimate the attraction the Forest could have on Oikawa now that he was deprived from his magic, but telling him would not do any good. The mage had already  been anxious about entering the Forest, he would only grow paranoid knowing the effect it had on him.

So, Iwaizumi stayed silent.

They pursued their road this way, silent with Iwaizumi making sure Oikawa did not deviate too much. At midday, Iwaizumi decided to dismount for a break. Letting the horses drink at the nearby river, he installed himself on some rocks covered in moss, waited for Oikawa to do the same and then, they shared a portion of dried meat.

They had left the castle the night before and had not stopped since. The knight was fine with long travel, uncomfortable position, sleeping on ride and irregular and rationed meals but it wasn’t Oikawa’s case. Or rather, Iwaizumi wasn’t sure how Oikawa would deal with this aspect of their situation now. Usually, Oikawa would fuss and complain -without any real intentions, simply for holding a semblance of conversation- about every possible thing, humidity, being uncomfortable, cold, bored and so on. But now, Oikawa was munching on his dried meat, without complain. He did not make a face when Iwaizumi gave him his share, did not complain of the taste. This was unusual.

“You are spacing out again,” Iwaizumi said. He was expecting some kind of “I’m not” with a pout or another one of Oikawa’s childish move. Instead, all he got was a hum. A very uncharacteristic answer. Which irritated Iwaizumi even more. So, the knight did what seemed the best fitted and kicked Oikawa in the shin.

“Iwaaaaa, what was that for ?!

“You are spacing out. Again. The kick is for not answering me.” Oikawa did not pout but his incredulous face was priceless.

“You are such a brute ! Who kick someone for that ? Also, I am not spacing out. I am thinking, but it’s a process your muscled brain doesn’t know about.” He answered with some sort of pretension in his voice. “And what is exactly your highness thinking about,” he replicated without missing a beat, fake politeness dripping in his voice.

Oikawa amused smile fell off then and he sighed again, posture falling. It was a rare sight to see Oikawa hunched over like that. He usually took great pride of his posture, years of learning proper etiquette with the castle preceptors. For all the years Iwaizumi had spent along Oikawa, the occasions like this one could be counted on his fingers.

“I am,” he started, “I am trying to evaluate the distance to the kingdom. I don’t think I have ever been so far away from the Kingdom since the marks finished growing”. Iwaizumi’s curiosity perked at that. He tried to recall all of Oikawa travels since he took his Counselor‘s functions. It couldn’t be the first time he was so far from the kingdom, right ?

His thoughts must have shown on his face because Oikawa was now smiling at him, like he could read him. “I’m not kidding Iwa. I do believe I have never been so far away.”

“How can you be sure ? I can’t tell exactly where we are but you went through the Forest before.”

“Well, first, I have never used that road. Usually, with my spells,” he particularly insisted on this part, “I just go through the Forest. Here, we are longing the West Border and soon we will reach the north. But, to answer your questions, I just feel it.”

He put his hand over this chest and for a flicker second, Iwaizumi remarked the shining sadness in his eyes. A second later, his usual composure was back. It was fast but he caught it nonetheless. Oikawa was a wall of composure, of practiced smiles, bows and handshakes with an extravagant and outrageous façade to keep people at bay. Iwaizumi had seen a lot of his pretension but he was able to catch the rawness under the crack in his perfected mask. Privilege of years spent around, he supposed.

“I felt the exact moment we crossed the Kingdom’s border, like every time. But this time, there was something more -” he sighed. Again. This was becoming a habit. “- Or rather, something missing. It’s strange to explain, I’m not even sure myself. Also, there is this stupid magic suppressor.” This time Oikawa clearly glared at his knight. “Why did Makki thought it was necessary ?”

Exasperation was back in his voice and Iwaizumi kindly accept the change of subject. Oikawa could talk a lot but he was reserved when it comes to himself. Iwaizumi knew he had said more that he wanted and trying to get more from him would only closed the man more.

“It is necessary. Our spies informed us about Quartz developing some kind of sensors to predict a mage position and with your amount of power, you are an easy target. So, if you don’t want Ushijima to track you down, you will have to deal with it.” Oikawa pouted at the idea but didn’t insist and went back to his dried meat.

Their meal continued in silence, birds’ chirpings’ the only indicator of time passing. The Forest was calm for now. Half an hour later, they were packing and back on the road.

The rest of the day was uneventful. They rode until the night fell and decided to rest until morning. They shared another cold and frugal meal, provisions rationed. “Supply would have to wait,” Iwaizumi had said, “ villages are too far from the forest. Also we will have to wait for larger cities where we can more easily hide in the crowd.”

Their destination wasn’t really precise. They followed the border in North direction with trees for only companion. On their left, the actual road could be seen, a yellowish line in an ocean of green, but they decided to stay hidden in the Forest as far as possible. The monotone landscape was gladly welcomed by Iwaizumi. He knew the inside border quite well, knew this scenery and the quiet it provided. It allowed him time to think about their next move. Going back was out of question but it would not prevent the Knight to participate in his kingdom’s freedom.

The best option at their hands was to find allies. With Oikawa’s royal marks, only proof of his title, they could convince potentials allies to fight along them. They would have to negotiate, which was not Iwaizumi favorite exercise but Oikawa was good at this game (it had always been a game to him.) Remained to know who could potentially accept. And this, the Knight did not really have any ideas. He knew which kingdom could pretend for the job, who had enough strength and men for an open war, not who would accept an open war. Accepting his own ignorance, he inquired Oikawa.

“Ruby ? Well they are indeed the closest but they remained neutral in every recent conflict and we don’t have enough ties to influence their decisions.”

“What about the Iron City ?” Oikawa’s head spun so fast it might have made him dizzy but he sent such a look at Iwaizumi, he couldn’t make any comments.

“Did you really propose that Iwa ?! – he sound incredulous “Have you forgot all your history lessons ? Our kingdom reduces theirs to a single city years ago. They will never accept anything from us !”

“Well, you could have try to create new ties and all that negotiating thing you do but, you do have a point. They probably won’t even let us enter.” He laughed. “We should be thankful they did not ally with Quartz.”

Oikawa looked at his knight, eyebrows furrowed in concern at his strange behavior. “Have you gone mad, Iwa ?”,” he asked in a small voice, “Is it the forest effect ?”

“No”, he answered, amused. “But do come back on the path please.”

“Oh, right”, he gasped, suddenly aware at how far he had (once again) deviated.

‘ _Like a bug to a flame, huh_ ’, the knight thought, concerned. The forest never had any effect on him (as long as he stayed inside the safe border. He got caught once, as a child, and the memories are still vivid.) but he was no mage. It seemed the forest had a small impact on mages even inside the ten-meter border. ‘ _Let’s just hope this won’t get worse_ ’. They stayed silent for another minute, both thinking. Finally Oikawa voiced another idea.

“What about a Nomadic Nation ? Like the Nomadic Crows ? They are harder to find but maybe – “

“Sorry to break the new but they are no longer a nation. They’re more like a guild nowadays. I encountered a few of them, two years ago, during an expedition. They travel from Kingdom to Kingdom and sell various things, including their service, but they won’t be an actual help against an army.”

“Really ? Too bad”, he grumbled, kind of disappointed. Nomadic nations were discreet and didn’t communicate a lot. News of them were sporadic and it was common to learn of their disappearance years after. He didn’t insisted more about them.

“There is still the Marble Kingdom.” Oikawa looked at his knight, checking if he had his attention. Which he did. “They have resource, power and an interest. The Forest of Dreams extend close to theirs borders. It is not in their interest to let Quartz gain control over Emerald.”

Iwaizumi could only agree. Marble had the means and the will. There was however one obstacle. “They are far away and the capital is after the Star’s River. Crossing it is a problem in itself but more than this, we risk being discovered before. It’s a long travel.”

“We won’t need to cross the river”, Oikawa answered, voice gaining confidence as a plan drew itself in his mind. “We just have to convince the Marble Owls.”

Iwaizumi watched him intensely. Oikawa had this face on. The one he made when he knew he won a negotiation, when his opponents fell in his terms with no other option, when he knew he had won. It wasn’t an expression of victory. It was predatory. And this time, Iwaizumi was caught.

The Marble Owls was a specific legion from Marble Kingdom, under the control of one heir prince, the Owl Prince, an eccentric whose physical resemblance with an owl gave him this nickname. He was in charge of ruling and protecting the vast region of Marble at west of the Star’s River.

“Prince Bokuto is an eccentric,” Oikawa elaborated, “always seeking fame and success, probably to compensate his place as the third son. Also, I heard he was an adrenaline junkie. The odds he refuses us are small.

Iwaizumi tilted his head towards his future King and nodded. Oikawa was not waiting for an answer, simply for a sign that he got Iwaizumi’s full attention. “We can keep going along the border until we encounter the Dream’s River further north,” he continued, “then we’ll follow it until we get in Marble.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, guess who is still alive !  
> I will be honest, I don't know how much of this story I will keep writing. I decided to post this chapter for the 13 people who left kudos, literally years ago.  
> But kudos is not a comment and not knowing what people think of a work you spent hours on, well it doesn't really motivate.  
> So I will probably post the next chapter someday since it's almost done. But after, I don't know...
> 
> Also, [my main Tumblr ](http://sweetvanila-stuff.tumblr.com) and [my side Tumblr ](http://sweetvanila-fandoms.tumblr.com)
> 
> And if you want to left a comment, go on ! You know where it is !


	6. Emeralds

The Emerald kingdom was particular in its ruling as it was the only kingdom where rulers were chosen by something rather than someone (whether it was citizens or previous rulers) Emerald was ruled by someone chosen through an ancient magical tradition and thus, the chosen was granted an access close to unlimited power. (Previous Queens and Kings had agree the principal limit of this power was the fragility of human body.) In exchange, the chosen ruler must protect the land from the Forest of Dreams to the Drowned Mountain as well as its living population of all kinds.

And as the King, every living things from this region had been granted with magical abilities (with various capacity and intensity) And as emeralds were particularly present there, the land was granted with its name. The Emerald kingdom was born and built itself over centuries.

And now, Oikawa Tooru was its new King.

Iwaizumi was happy with his life and glad for his position as Emerald Knight. He’d always liked simple things like his everyday routine, his training and its pattern. He had found his place and as much as he liked his missions, he was glad to have a place to come back. And Oikawa was part of this place, had been part of his every day life for the past ten years, and he had naively hoped their friendship and proximity would last for years? The réalisation it might suddenly change had him conflicted.

‘ _He is your King now. Things won’t stay the same.’_

Iwaizumi gripped his reins tighter and mentally scaled himself for letting his thoughts derivate like this. He had to focus. Taking a large inspiration, he forced his thugs back on track. This was nor the time or place to dwell on personal feeling. He was Iwaizumi Hajime, and Emerald Knight whose duty was to protect his King and Kingdom. And so he will.

« Oikawa », he called out loud, exasperation seeping though his voice while he caught Oikawa’s horse by his reins, forcing them back on the path. Again. Iwaizumi needed to focus. Their road was long and both had no idea how it would actually end.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------

They traveled without incidents (except for Oikawa constant deviation of path) for days. Words were spare and silence took its place between the two.

Under trees’ shadow they did not suffer from the summer heat and thankfully, it didn’t rain since their departure. Humidity was however quite present and Oikawa was often caught struggling with his damp hair. Chocolate strands of hair would stick to his forehead and, to Iwaizumi great amusement, every time he tried to free his eyes from them, he would simply ended up sticking them in awful directions, making more a mess of already unruled hairs.

They stopped during day to let horses drink whenever they crossed small rivers, to stretch their legs and check their surroundings, mostly the main road. As far as they could see, they had not remarked any presence of Quartz. Hunting was not permitted inside the forest (not that it could be possible either. Animals liked to hide in the forest’s deepest parts and only fools would try), so they relied on their provisions for most of their meals. Sometimes when they were lucky, they could find edible wild berries growing around the main road, a dozen of meters away from their hiding place. So when the sun settled and road was free in any living, Iwaizumi would go pick up some to go with their dried meat.

It was frugal and cold but it would do.

At dusk, they would prepare for the night. Campfire were banned. For obvious reason. They would not take the risk to unleash the Forest’s wrath on them. And when night fell, they bundled up in their tin capes, trying to get confortable. Oikawa kept on trying to evaluate the distance with the star’s positions without great success. (It had been one of his favorite activities, observing the stared sky, trying to memorize each one. Iwaizumi had found it boring back when they were twelve). And then, he would sleep, urged by his Knight to do so.

It was not confortable by any means. Oikawa had grumbled the first night without voicing any complaint though. He did end up falling asleep on Iwaizumi’s shoulder, brows furrowed and with a sore neck the next morning. But the Knight had not flinch nor emitted an opinion. So Oikawa had done it again and it became a pattern for the next nights.

 

After three days of travel they encountered a lake. « The lake of Giants, finally ! » had cheer Oikawa.

It wasn’t its actual name but Oikawa always had a knack for nicknames. It fit pretty well though. It was huge but thankfully some roads and specially their were not profound and easily accessible by horse.

The lake took its source through numerous rivers from the Forest which all joined together at its edge and became this gigantic lake. But because of its localisation, people used to think it was an extension of the Forest. It was avoided and they were rumors of dangerous creature living in the deepest part. Officials though, Emerald had not recognize the lake as their territory unlike the Forest.

Point was the lake was as feared as the Forest. Which seemed ridiculous for them. Unlike the Forest, it did not have an ounce of magic. But Iwaizumi understood the fear. Foreigners would not make the difference between and enchanted forest and the lake at its border. Foreigners considers them both as unknown and dangerous territory. It made however their path more easy as they had no one to hide from in such an exposed place.

They went through easily and decided to camp here for the night. Oikawa had ditched his boots to mess around in water as soon as he could. Iwaizumi did too. In summer, cold water was gladly welcomed. They let their horses drink and rest in water before brushing them a minimum. They finished their ministrations as the sun started to set. The knight was setting their ‘bed’, a bunch of leaves and moss covered by one of their cape) when he heard the rustling of clothes. Turning around, he saw Oikawa taking off his pants.

« What the fuck Oikawa ? » He shouted, keeping his eyes on Oikawa’s amused grin.

« Well, I’m going to bath a bit. We’ve been running around in the forest for five days now. I am sweaty and dirty so while I have the occasion, I will make use of this clear water ! » The  idiot was chirping, proud of himself. But Iwaizumi was having none of it, knowing him better. So he just deadpanned : « Splash me and I wont hesitate to drown you. »

Oikawa gasped from afar and was probably saying something back but he did not listen, turning his back to the king, busying himself with rearranging their packages. He had not expected this even though it was really predictable. The lake had been part of their itinerary and it was clever to use it while they could. And though it should have been expected, Iwaizumi had not prepare for the sight of Oikawa half naked. 

They might spend most of their day together, it doesn’t mean they were all of each other interactions. And it was for the better in the Knight’s opinion. Oikawa and Hanamaki public and private interaction were heavily monitored but not Iwaizumi’s. He was a grown ass man, so as long as he didn’t create scandal or bring shame to his position or kingdom, he was rather free when off duty. Which meant he could see whoever he wanted regardless of their conditions, gender or occupations. He wasn’t as prude as the Court had wished. (Those ones were incredible in their way. Matsukawa and himself had laughed so hard listening to Oikawa and Hanamaki’s lessons in romantic interactions or whatever bullshit they had named it.)

At first, Iwaizumi had not been bothered at all by lusting after Oikawa. It was physical, Oikawa was handsome, they spend most of their time together and there was no point trying to deny the attraction.  There was however a significant difference between acknowledging a fact and acting on it. And Iwaizumi hadn’t had reasons to pursue those feeling back then and he’d no more reason to do so today. Lusting after a counselor was one thing. After his King ? Certainly not.

He was son of Knight and had made his way to his position on his own. Loyalty towards Emerald was anchor in his body and mind since birth. He served the King and those feelings are useless in his task. They need to go and they will. Words of Knight.

With this promise in mind, he focused back on Oikawa who apparently had not find a snarky enough remark and had resumed his undressing? He heard the sound of water and Oikawa’s small hiss when he entered the cold water. Iwaizumi waited a few seconds before turning again. Oikawa was immersed to his waist and had started to wash himself (as best as he could given their conditions). Now Iwaizumi could see them more clearly. And even if he’d caught a glimpse last time, the royals marks were far more impressive than he thought.

There were once described by a Queen's lover as « fluids rivers of Emeralds on a smooth and delicate skin ». It was poetic and back then, he remembered laughing at it. But seing them now, on Oikawa’s back, he couldn’t do anything else than agree.

The whole left part of his back was covered in large and some smaller lines of emerald. Some came from his shoulders but many speed out from his waist to his hips, like branches wrapped around him, a lonely one pursuit its expansion towards his legs. Even from the distance and the fading light, Iwaizumi could distinguish the pellicular texture, incrusted stone reflecting lights unlike skin.

When Oikawa turned around, Iwaizumi tried no to be obvious in his starring but he could not stop his curious eyes. On front, the marks were more numerous and a pattern seemed to appear. Again, they concentrated on his left, somehow starting around his heart, not leaving a single blank space on his pectoral before dispersing in different sections. A few went up, never going past his collarbone, retracting rather to the round oh his shoulder. But most fell towards his waist and hips.

« You are staring Iwa.»

Oikawa’s voice broke the silence and Iwaizumi realized blatantly that yes, he was obviously staring.

« It looks strange, doesn’t it ? », he added sheepishly with and embarrassed smile, fingers scratching the closest mark under his clavicle.

Iwaizumi was taken aback at the display. He felt like he was suddenly transported back to his childhood, where a younger Oikawa would ask permission for playing with them, fingers fiddling with the hem of his clothes, voice barely audible. Back when he was a little boy lost in a castle of impressive and unknown adults. And then, the knight stupidly realized that though Oikawa had been chosen, he was still Oikawa. Oikawa, usually so proud of any of his actions, was acting shyly at the mentions of his marks, unconfident in what should be his greatest glory. Iwaizumi couldn’t help the wave of sympathy he felt.

He sighed softly, more to himself, and decided bathing would be a good idea too.

« When did they start to appear and how come none of us remarked ? »

Oikawa turned around, as Iwaizumi started to undress, pretending to observe the sunset and humming lightly, mulling his answers. It was a distraction and both accepted it as it was.

« Well, they’ve always sort of been there. But they weren’t emeralds before. They started to fill during teenage. When the Regent found me, they were just strange scars that my parents regards as a disease. But he knew. He knew it was just the first step, where the skin dug paths for emeralds to fill later. »

« As for hiding them, honestly it was the easiest part. When I was a child, they were called scars, you probably remember that. And once they colored, well, I just had to cover them up. »

Iwaizumi remembered the scars. He saw them, as a child, when Oikawa once rolled his sleeves over to wash his hand. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were there too, and the three boys had wondered and asked lots of questions to a confused Oikawa. He answered them, as best as he could, saying it was a skin disease, and there was not a lot to do. When they asked if it hurt, Oikawa just shrugged. They never talked about it after.

Both men were now immersed, filling the silence with the sounds of water, trying to wash what they could of themselves. Oikawa’s lost in his mind again, and Iwaizumi let his eyes fell on the mark covering his shoulder. He idly thought about how those pretty marks used to be those ugly deep scars.

« Does they hurt ? »

His voice was small and soft, as if too much volume would break Oikawa, would break the moment. Oikawa shrugged then left the water with chattering teeth.

 

 

Later this night, when Oikawa was finally asleep, Iwaizumi realised he’d never said it didn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept my intention and post the chapter before April ends ! Thanks to TR_KINE_BAe and Xeraxera for their lovely comments ! It feels nice to receive them, you had no idea !!! Motivate me to finish this chapter and hopefully the whole story.  
> I don't know when the next will be done, work is consuming most of my time, but at least I want to keep on writing now.
> 
> Comments are really welcome, you have no idea how much they mean for me.
> 
> Also, [my main Tumblr ](http://sweetvanila-stuff.tumblr.com) and [my side Tumblr ](http://sweetvanila-fandoms.tumblr.com)


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